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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28647849">Werewolves Need a Pack</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/chowderr/pseuds/chowderr'>chowderr</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Established Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Good Peter Pettigrew, He is he's just a little lost in this one, How do a werewolf and a disaster man start a family, I just think it needs to be known, M/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Remus Lupin Loves Sirius Black, Remus Lupin doesn't like confrontation, Remus Lupin wants a family, Sirius Black Loves Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin live together, Sirius Black is James and Lily Potter's Secret Keeper, Sirius Black is a Good Boyfriend, So they don't die, Sort Of, They'll figure it out eventually, Werewolf Remus Lupin, for now they get a kitten, it's not relevant to this though, mentioned James Potter/Lily Evans Potter - Freeform, wolfstar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 13:27:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,047</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28647849</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/chowderr/pseuds/chowderr</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Remus Lupin loves his boyfriend, but finds himself longing for something that Sirius can't exactly give him, but something that he can't have without Sirius either. Sirius notices and questions him about it. Things do not go as planned.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Sirius Black/Remus Lupin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>66</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Werewolves Need a Pack</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It all started with confrontation, as things often do. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin had just returned to their flat after visiting their friends, James and Lily (Evans) Potter and their son, Harry. It had been a nice visit, it always was, but something felt a little off. Sirius had noticed it when he looked at Remus. He noticed the bittersweet expression on his partner's face everytime the man watched young Harry running around the house. It hadn't been the first time he looked that way and Sirius was starting to assume it wouldn't be the last either. He, of course, had questioned Remus about that expression as soon as they'd gotten home and Remus almost immediately shut it down. </p><p>"I don't know what you're talking about," he said. Surely he did know, so Sirius kept pushing. </p><p>Eventually, after nearly ten minutes of back and forth, Remus gave in and begrudgingly admitted that he wanted a family like the Potter's. He'd wanted it for a while now, and seeing James and Lily so happy with their boy only made him long for it more. Sirius was slightly taken aback by it and stayed silent for a few moments. Possibly too many, because Remus hurried to defend himself and insist it didn't matter anyways.</p><p>"It's not a big deal. Really, I don't care that much. Besides, we couldn't adopt, so we'd need a surrogate, and that's-" he sighed. "I highly doubt you'd want to continue the Black family bloodline, and I couldn't bear the risk of passing my burden down to someone else. The procedure's expensive anyways," the werewolf's voice quivered as he spoke, increasingly more so towards the end. He wasn't necessarily wrong about the obstacles and seeing him distraught over it made Sirius' heart ache for him.</p><p>"You've thought about this a lot, haven't you?" Remus gave a small, nervous nod. "Moons, look at me," he didn't look. "Hey, look,"</p><p>"It's fine, Sirius."</p><p>"It doesn't sound like it,"</p><p>"It is, alright? I'm happy with you, it's just a silly fantasy anyways."</p><p>"It's not silly-"</p><p>"I'm going for a walk."</p><p>"Remus-" Before Sirius could even get a word in edgewise, the taller man had already pulled his jacket back on and rushed out the door. Well fuck. Apparently, this was a very touchy subject for his boyfriend.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>A cold breeze swept Remus' hair across his forehead and bit the tip of his nose as he walked away from their flat, his pace beginning to slow the farther away he got. He knew leaving was stupid, but he needed fresh air as soon as possible or he just might have passed out. Sirius hadn't even really said anything, and yet here Remus was freaking out and overthinking the interaction. He couldn't stay any longer, he couldn't hear what Sirius might have said if he had. Remus truly was happy with Sirius, happier than he'd been since he was a small child, but of course he couldn't help longing for something more. It was only human. (Now if only the foolish man would take notice of that and realize he wasn't a monster like he'd always believed.)</p><p>Remus had always been a family man. He loved his parents dearly, and was raised with the ideal that family was the most valuable thing you could have, so of course when he'd learned of Sirius' horrible home life, he was determined to make him feel safe with his friends instead. James had fully supported turning their group of friends into a little family and had unintentionally taken the role of the mother hen. None of them were biologically family, obviously, but they were so closely knit that they felt like one. Not to mention Euphemia and Fleamont Potter had practically adopted Sirius. </p><p>The boy's grew up, but despite that they were still close as ever. James married Lily and they had Harry, Remus and Sirius got together in their seventh year of Hogwarts and had been practically inseparable ever since, and Peter, while without a romantic partner (dating didn't seem to be his cup of tea,) was always welcome to spend lots of time with the others and did so with an almost admirable enthusiasm. </p><p>Even with the makeshift family he had, there was still something missing, and even despite how much he wanted someone small to care for, Remus wasn't even sure he could. Between his endless struggle to find a steady job and full moons (both the transformations and recovery,) the brunette really had no idea how he'd manage. Honestly, Sirius would be stuck doing most of the work, and that wasn't fair to him. That was, if Sirius even wanted a child in the first place. Probably not. So Remus did his best to push it all out of his head.</p><p>Around an hour later, Remus was still walking. He hadn't been going anywhere in particular, but he'd ended up at the park anyways and plopped himself down on a bench next to the pond. A few ducks floated about on the water, seemingly not a care in the world. Remus wondered what that was like. Nice, he bet. Another twelve minutes or so passed, and the werewolf's ears perked up at a rustling sound coming from one of the bushes beside him. </p><p>Slowly, Remus leaned forward a bit, peeking at the bush with an eyebrow cocked. He stared at it for a few seconds before deciding it was nothing and looking back at the pond. A second or two later and there was another rustle, so he turned his head back to it and waited. Again, nothing. This repeated thrice more before Remus gave a sigh of resignation and stared at the bush intensely instead of looking away. This time, there was a different noise. Huh. And there it was again. The lanky man got off of the bench, kneeled in front of the bush, and waited. A third noise. Was that… a meow? With some necessary caution, he stuck his hands into the bush and pushed the branches out of the way so he could peer inside. </p><p>Surely enough, a pair of wide blue eyes met his own amber ones and the small thing meowed once more. Remus wasn't sure what he was expecting to have found, but it wasn't this. As carefully as he could, he reached farther into the bush and gingerly picked up the scraggly kitten. The poor thing was shaking, so Remus held it close to his chest as he looked down at it.</p><p>"Hello there," he said, his voice quiet and soft as he pet the thing gently. "Are you lost?" Why he was talking to a kitten as though it could answer, he didn't know. Perhaps it had gotten loose. Remus couldn't recall seeing any missing posters on his way here, though, and surely someone that had lost a kitten would have put those up quickly. It appeared as though the little critter had been out here for a while, though. She felt far skinnier than what Remus assumed was healthy, and her fur was matted and almost completely covered in dirt. He couldn't exactly leave her here, so Remus stood up, still holding her close, and pulled his coat over her a bit, hoping it would help warm her up a little more. He wasn't exactly a walking heater. Really more so a walking icicle.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Sirius was worried sick. It had almost been two hours since Remus walked out and he hadn't heard a word from him. Of course Remus was a grown man, but two hours… That was a long time for a walk. Even if he was trying to calm his nerves. </p><p>He didn't know why he hadn't chased after him or followed closely behind. He didn't know why he wasn't going out right now to look for him. Perhaps he was scared he'd push the man further away if he did. Merlin, that was stupid. Sirius just prayed his boyfriend was alright. He paced back and forth in their living room, anxiously twirling his hair in his fingers. What if something happened? What if he'd gotten in an accident? What if he'd done something to himself? While dramatic, that wasn't necessarily out of the question. It was something they were working through and Sirius couldn't even begin to fathom how he'd deal with indirectly causing that. No, that was unnecessary worrying, that was too far. He was overthinking it by a landslide.</p><p>What felt like hours later (really only twenty minutes, give or take,) Sirius heard the jingle of keys at the door of the flat and immediately jumped up off of where he'd slumped on their sofa. Just as he'd thought, it was Remus. The man was hunched over himself and carrying something that Sirius couldn't quite see. </p><p>"Rem, thank Merlin! Are you alright? Love, I'm sorry I didn't say anything, you caught me off guard, I just needed a second to process what you were sayi-" Remus shook his head and shushed the smaller man, still looking down at whatever he was holding. "What is that?" Sirius was beckoned over and glanced at whatever <em> it </em>was. Oh. Just a kitten.</p><p>…</p><p>Wait, a kitten?</p><p>"Where the hell did you get a kitten?" he asked, looking back and forth between the tiny thing and Remus with a thoroughly confused expression. </p><p>"Found her." Sirius knew what was coming, and sure enough after some initial hesitation: "I think she's a stray. Do you think, I mean- would you mind-?" </p><p>"Keeping it?"</p><p>"Her."</p><p>"Right, sorry." Truthfully, Sirius wasn't sure. He wasn't really a big fan of cats. James and Lily had a large orange one, and while he didn't mind it, it wasn't his favorite creature either. But when he glanced back up at his lover's face, he looked content. Somehow, this small, malnourished kitten had managed to do something Sirius couldn't and fill a very specific gap in Remus' heart. A kitten wasn't a child, but just going off of the look in Remus' eyes and the way he cradled the thing, it wasn't a half bad substitute. </p><p>"What do you think?" Remus asked, snapping Sirius out of his thoughts. The werewolf really seemed to need and want this, and Sirius reckoned the cat could grow on him. Once it had been cleaned up, that is. Besides, with the way Remus' face scrunched up and nonverbally begged Sirius to say yes, how could he not? </p><p>"Fine, yeah, we can keep her," he replied. Remus' immediate change from begging to looking positively thrilled was one hundred percent worth it. The werewolf leaned down and kissed Sirius on the cheek before hurrying off, most likely to clean the kitten. Sirius, however, stayed where he was standing. Remus really would be a good father, and if the black haired man was being completely honest, he sort of wanted a family with him too. It was a shame he was so worried about his lycanthropy.</p><p>After shaking himself out of his thoughts, Sirius made his way into the bathroom, where Remus was kneeled next to the bathtub, gently washing the kitten with warm water from the showerhead. Sirius put his hand on his partner's shoulder and smiled at the sight, finding it incredibly endearing even with how filthy the water dripping off of the kitten was. </p><p>"What're you gonna call her?" Sirius asked as he moved his hand from Remus' shoulder to his head and laced his fingers through the other man's mousy brown hair.</p><p>"Branwen," Remus answered without a second to even think.</p><p>"Huh. Alright," A little odd, but they were named Sirius and Remus, so that was only fitting. He didn't really care though, as long as his dearest was happy. Sirius bent over to place a kiss on the top of Remus' head and sighed. It was strange how, right after they'd discussed a child, a kitten had wormed its way into their life, but maybe it was meant to be. Maybe this would be good for them. Maybe it wouldn't. But whatever it was, it definitely felt like a sign. Maybe they'd talk about starting a family later, but for now, this was good. Sirius, Remus, and Branwen. </p><p>Okay, maybe he'd talk to Remus about changing that name.</p>
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